10 Games Still Trapped Exclusively On The Super Nintendo

Key Takeaways

• Nintendo’s Virtual Console promised to bring back older games, though it is only a temporary solution.
• Many iconic SNES games remain locked to original consoles, creating a need for permanent ports.
• Terranigma, Lufia II, and Shadowrun are just a few underrated SNES RPGs still inaccessible legally.

The Virtual Console was the promise from Nintendo to all of its older fans that at long last, they could play games from their childhood. The NES, SNES, N64 and so on were all at their fingertips when it launched with the Wii in 2006. Of course not everything was available right away and in fact it took awhile for updates.

Sadly, the virtual console died with the closure of the Wii store, and then the same followed the Wii and 3DS stores as well. As such, for as nice as all these emulations are, they are only a temporary solution to a problem that deserves a permanent answer. Just imagine if you could play all these amazing SNES games as much as you wanted, without fear of the service hosting them shutting down?

Updated November 4th, 2024 by Hilton Webster: While Nintendo has made some strides in bringing us the original renditions of older SNES titles through emulation, this is only a temporary band-aid in favor of permanent ports. And even with all that, there are plenty of iconic SNES games still locked to the consoles, impossible to experience through any legal means. Here’s a renewed look at some of them.

10

Secret of Evermore

While this is not technically part of the Mana series, it is a spin-off in a sense. After Secret of Mana shipped, the North American branch of Squaresoft at the time decided to work on this game as sort of a spiritual successor.

At the time this was almost unheard of since Squaresoft was a Japanese company and their other branches outside of that were there more for localization. Because of this, many may think of this as a lesser SNES RPG, but it still contains that Squaresoft quality.

9

Terranigma

Seen as part of an unofficial trilogy of Action RPGs, Terranigma follows the aptly-named Ark as he revives the planet from death, and you must watch as the process of evolution restores the Earth to what it once was.

It’s an exceptionally unique story, and also features some stellar music, something Square pushed a lot during the SNES era. Sadly, unlike many of Square’s other well-regarded series, Terranigma and its unique blend of real-time combat and puzzles has never had another chance to shine since its initial release.

8

BS: The Legend of Zelda

There are actually two Zelda games trapped on the SNES. In Japan there was a service and a plugin for the console called the Satellaview. With this download feature, Nintendo released a remake of the first game, but with new 16-Bit graphics.

The other game, Ancient Stone Tablets, was a pseudo sequel to A Link to the Past. Both of these games were also hosted live with commentary and a live band playing as people played during allotted time slots. It was way ahead of its time and thus hard to re-release.

7

Sparkster

Sparkster has a confusing legacy. It is the sequel to Rocket Knight, a Sega Genesis exclusive. That platform got a game of the same name, almost, called Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2. All three of these titles are different from one another and all three are about a knighted possum with a rocket pack. It’s essentially an action platformer from Konami. Does that all make sense?

All three games follow the same character, Sparkster, though are otherwise quite dissimilar. What all three do share is the fact that they are all still okced to the consoles they first launched on.

6

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

Technically Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals did leave the SNES via a remake on the DS in 2010. Even though Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals is based on that game, it is completely different and more like a re-imagining just like the remake for Final Fantasy VII is also more of a broad re-imagining.

It’s a shame too because Lufia II is one of the most underrated RPGs on the platform. The game is right up there with Final Fantasy VI.

5

Illusion of Gaia

Illusion of Gaia is sort of like Zelda, but with more RPG elements. Players traverse through dungeons, gain magic, solve puzzles, and yes, fight loads of monsters. It was made by Quintet and distributed by Enix before they merged with Squaresoft. Even though they weren’t as big back in the day, they still had some gems on their hands.

The game takes place in a version of the world that is akin to not slightly off from our own. You visit plenty of real-world locales, like the Great Wall of China, on your grand journey, though it’s a relatively simple combat experience compared to other Square RPGs.

4

Shadowrun

Shadowrun is based on the popular tabletop RPG. The series is like Dungeons and Dragons, but with a Bladerunner cyberpunk motif. Who needs Cyberpunk 2077 when this could be available to Nintendo owners now?

It may have lower graphics, but its ambitions were pretty big considering it is basically an open world RPG on the SNES. Players can talk their way out of conflicts, pick locks, hack computers, and if all else fails, fighting is an option.

3

Magical Pop’n

Magical Pop’n is a fascinating game not by many of its own merits, but for its distinct legacy.It has you in the role of a Princess who must retrieve a powerful gem from the evil Demon King to save her kingdom. It’s a simple platformer with simple controls and simply-designed areas. It looks great, though isn’t in any particular way exceptional.

What’s so fascinating is that its publisher, Pack-In-Video, and co-producer, Yasuhiro Wada, would go on to create the wildly successful Harvest Moon. This in turn caused the price of Magical Pop’n to skyrocket, making it one of the rarest and most expensive SNES games to acquire today.

Another bizarre aspect to it – the game didn’t have a save function at all, and it was very hard.

LucasArts made a lot of point-and-click adventure games for PC platforms back in the 80s and 90s. Plus a lot of Star Wars content too. They did have a few original ideas for consoles though too including this mech shooter, Metal Warriors. It’s a pretty basic action game, but one that still looks and plays great even after a couple decades.

It takes plenty of inspiration from mecha anime and games from the period, and even lets you find a new mech when your current one is destroyed, rather than hitting you with a game over. It’s too bad it never got the chance to entice a new generation into mecha.

1

Gunple: Gunman’s Proof

Last, but certainly not least, we have Gunple: Gunman’s Proof. It is the answer to this question. What if someone combined the gameplay of A Link to the Past with the zaniness of EarthBound all with a western motif? Well, the answer is this.

Sadly it never made it out of Japan thus it is double stuck on the console. Thankfully fans have patched it into English so if one wanted, they could play it right now. As cool as that is, we look forward to a future, official release. That goes for everything else on here as well.